Identified by critics as part of the Mandarin Ducks and Butterflies school of Chinese literature, Bao has not been recognized in the country's literary canon.

Nonetheless, his The Schooling of Xin'er – an adaptation of Edmondo De Amicis's Heart – was a common gift to graduates and received an award from the Republican government.

[4] There, he established the Donglai Bookstore together with some friends, serving as its manager;[1] the shop sold not only Chinese books, but also imports from Japan.

[2] Through the early 1900s he was active as a translator, writing under several pen names; these included Tianxiao, as well as Chunyun, Wei Miao, Jiaye, Nianhua, Qiuxinggezhu and Chuanyinglouzhu.

[10] Through the 1920s, he completed more than thirty translations; Bao also established the Suzhou Vernacular Newspaper, which focused on politics.

His novel Liufang Ji featured the opera singer and dan performer Mei Lanfang as its protagonist, using it to explore the events of the early Republic of China.

[11] He also worked on civilized dramas, staging an adaptation of Victor Hugo's Angelo, Tyrant of Padua (1835) via a Japanese translation by Satō Karoku [ja].

[15] Previously, the company had filmed Bao's The Story of a Poor Vagrant Boy, adapted from Kikuchi Yūhō's Japanese-language translation of Hector Malot's Sans Famille (1878), as Little Friends (1925).

It also made A Married Couple in Name Only (1927), based on Bao's original novel A Thread of Hemp,[8] and released a film adaptation of Fallen Plum Blossoms on 20 March 1927.

[18] Other films written by Bao for Mingxing included A Sincerely Pitiful Girl (1925), Her Pain (1926) Resurrection of Conscience (1926), and A Good Man (1926).

[3] Bao died on 24 October 1973,[11] having recently completed a 99-page treatise on changes in food, clothing, and shelter in the past century.

[13] The sinologist Perry Link argues that Bao and his fellow writers, as with many authors active in the May Fourth era, had sought to "bring enlightenment" to the Republic of China.

[25] It also included various modifications, recasting the narrator as an old man named after Bao's deceased son while simultaneously conveying Confucian values.

He advocated for women to be involved as writers and content creators, with a focus on issues related directly to their lives; these included entertainment, family, marriage, school, and work.

Women featured in the magazine included the journalist Tang Xiuhui [zh], the aviator Zhang Xiahun, as well as the educator Lü Bicheng.